Atla’s Fish Milanese Is a Sleeper Sensation

Share

One thing Enrique Olvera and Daniela Soto-Innes have been particularly vocal about regarding their new Mexican-inspired café, Atla, is that it’s not intended to be a destination restaurant but a neighborhood joint. The problem with this plan is that the chefs have created a menu full of dishes you might call destination-worthy. Take, for instance, this unassuming fish Milanese: an exceedingly fresh fillet of local gray sole, dipped in egg and buttermilk, cloaked in panko, pan-fried in garlic oil, and basted in butter until it reaches a level of delicate crispness we didn’t think possible. It’s deceptively simple, yet transcendent — a neighborhood-restaurant dish in spirit, but one wholly worth leaving your neighborhood for.

Mouse over or tap the image to read more.

On the menu at Atla; $18; 372 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.; no phone